Unseen
by Taylor Erin
Summary: Lorne, Laura, Sheppard, and Ronon are attacked by an unknown assailant while exploring off-world. Lorne/Cadman.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was glaring overhead on the planet designated M3X-285 as Major Evan Lorne and Lieutenant Laura Cadman trudged along behind Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex across a field of tall, dry grass. The team compilation was an unusual one, but Teyla was visiting with her people on the mainland back at Atlantis, and Rodney McKay had been working on something he deemed "too important" to be interrupted by something as mundane as exploring a new planet.

Sheppard had run across is 2IC begrudgingly filling out mission reports and it hadn't taken much to convince him to come along. Lorne, in return, stumbled over Laura just outside his quarters and she had invited herself to join them.

She told Colonel Sheppard it was because she had been twiddling her thumbs with boredom down in the science labs, and that was true, but she'd also jumped at the opportunity to spend an afternoon Evan.

They were so busy fulfilling their respective duties, it wasn't often they got to see each other for extended periods of time that didn't involve them sleeping.

While they couldn't exactly hold hands in front of – or behind – their Commanding Officer, they had still enjoyed the chance to talk and just be together.

"Lord have mercy, it's hot," Laura muttered as she stepped over a stray branch. Her hands were slick on her P-90, causing her to let it dangle from its strap for a few seconds as she wiped her palms on her BDUs. "I wish they had a swimming pool at this resort."

Beside her, Lorne chuckled, making her smile.

"This isn't exactly a romantic getaway," he agreed.

"Ha!" She scoffed. "Not with those two here to chaperone."

He grinned, reaching over brush a few wayward strands of hair behind her ear.

"Ah, I bet we could give them the slip."

Laura looked around at the vast expanse of withering field around them, edged about half a mile away by an equally withering forest, before arching a brow at him.

"Oh yeah? And where exactly would we go?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I could find somewhere."

She laughed at his bravado as she maneuvered out of the sleeves of her jacket and let them hang out of her TAC vest.

Sheppard and Ronon had stopped just ahead on the edge of a deep ravine and when Lorne and Laura caught up they peered cautiously over the edge. There was a sharp slope before a drop down into the river below. Lorne looked over at his girlfriend.

"Looks like we found the pool."

Laura scanned up and down the edge, looking for a place where they could safely descend. Seeing her calculating look, Sheppard cautioned,

"Uh, Cadman, I'm pretty sure the Major was just joking."

"Aw, Sir," she mock whined, and he chuckled.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, you'll have to save that dip for later."

She turned around to offer up another retort, when suddenly she felt something slam into her right side.

She barely had time to register the crack of gunfire a split second later as the force of the bullet knocked her back and she stumbled over the edge of the ravine.


	2. Chapter 2

Evan had turned his face away from her for one second before the sound of weapons fire and Laura's startled cry whipped his head back around.

She was already disappearing over the side of the ravine as he leapt forward to catch her.

"Laura! No!"

Sheppard and Ronon had their guns out and were scanning the area for the shooter, while Lorne dropped to his stomach and bellied up to the ledge to see if he could see Laura.

He breathed out a tiny sigh of relief when he spotted her, although his stomach knotted up when he noted her position. She had rolled down the slope to the very edge before the drop into the river. The only thing that had stopped her descent was a crumbling rock that jutted up above the rest.

It didn't look very stable, and he knew it wouldn't hold against her weight for long. She wasn't conscious, but he couldn't tell from his vantage point what her injuries were.

"Sir," he said, looking behind him at his CO.

"Cadman?" Sheppard questioned, his eyes still searching for the unknown threat.

"She's snagged on the drop-off, Sir," he started before the mysterious shooter decided that enough time had gone by since his initial shot and began unloading a barrage of bullets in their direction.

Sheppard and Ronon ducked down beside Lorne, and Sheppard glanced down over the edge at Laura's prone form before looking back at the others.

"Looks like the only way to go is down," he said.

Lorne and Ronon nodded, and the three of them slipped carefully over the edge. Digging in their heels, they cautiously controlled their movements until they reached Laura.

Ronon pulled out his blaster and kept it trained above them, in case their assailant followed, while Lorne and Sheppard eased over to Laura to check her condition.

She was on her right side, her back wedged against the rock holding her up. From what they could see, she had a large scrape on her right temple that was oozing blood.

Her right arm was sprawled up under her head while her left lay straight out in front of her. From the odd angle her left shoulder was jutting out, Lorne could tell she had dislocated it.

He shared a grim look with Sheppard. They couldn't fix it here. It would have to wait until they got to stable ground.

"Sheppard," Ronon hissed suddenly, his eyes raised.

Above them, they could hear the sound of grass crunching beneath someone's feet and knew they had to hurry. Evan quickly turned back to Laura, patting her face and whispering urgently.

"Laura! Laura, wake up!"

Her eyes blinked open slowly and she groaned. Sheppard leaned forward and covered her mouth to muffle the sound.

She was instantly alert, though Evan could see that her eyes were clouded with pain. She attempted to move her left arm and ended up biting Sheppard's hand when fire bloomed from her shoulder down to her fingertips.

Her eyes fluttered, but Evan tapped her face again to get her attention.

"We have to jump," he whispered to her.

He could see the Marine determination filter into her eyes before she nodded sharply.

Sheppard removed his hand from her mouth and they carefully maneuvered her into sitting position.

Once she was up, she rested her head on Evan's shoulder, breathing raggedly. He placed a hand on her head, his thumb rubbing absently, and looked up again.

The sounds from above were growing closer. Sheppard looked over the drop-off, down into the river and then back at them.

"Remember, feet first," he cautioned, then jumped.

Ronon motioned for Evan to take Laura over next. Lorne turned himself to face her fully and wrapped her good arm around his neck. She clutched the edges of his TAC vest as he wrapped his arms securely around her middle.

"Don't let go," he whispered in her ear before kissing her temple and hurling them over the edge.


	3. Chapter 3

As prepared as she thought she was, the shock of hitting the icy cold water of the river shocked a strangled scream from Laura's throat.

Her mouth filled with water as they plunged beneath the surface, causing her to struggle frantically in Evan's grasp in an attempt to rise for air. Beneath the panic and need for oxygen, her mind was dimly aware of the agony in her shoulder created by her movements.

Evan, whose own thoughts had been temporarily frozen when they'd entered the water, was able to see Laura's dilemma and held on to her as he used a few strong kicks to push them up above the surface.

Once there, Laura's body was wracked with coughs as she expelled the water that had filled her lungs. A splash behind them alerted Lorne to Ronon's approach as he swam up to them.

"We need to move faster and stick to the edge," he cautioned as he looked behind them to see if their pursuer could spot them.

Lorne nodded, hooking his arm around Laura's middle and turning so he could pull her along behind him. Though it went against her independent nature, Laura's exhaustion won out and she allowed him to swim for the both of them.

She held onto his arm and leaned her aching head back against his shoulder as he used his other arm to swim. She felt him press a quick kiss to the top of her head and then they started moving. They swam closer to the side of the river just below the drop-off so that it would be more difficult for someone from above to look down and see them.

A minute later they caught up with Sheppard, who had been holding onto the branch of a fallen tree to wait for them. They continued swimming for another ten minutes before Sheppard decided they were far enough away to safely exit the river.

Evan dragged Laura up and helped her crawl a short distance onto dry land before she plopped down, clutching her left arm close to her chest. Sheppard and Evan crouched down in front of her as Ronon kept a wary eye on their surroundings.

John reached tentatively for her left arm.

"Cadman-" he began.

"I know, Sir," she cut him off, her words coming out between clenched teeth. "Just do it already."

He nodded, and both men took up their stances, John holding gripping Laura's arm and Evan gripping Laura. Swiftly and efficiently, her shoulder was jerked back into place.

Evan tightened his grip when her face turned an even paler shade of white and she swayed forward to rest her head against his chest. She gasped. Now that the pain in her shoulder was settling to a dull ache, a stabbing pain beneath her TAC vest where the bullet had hit was making itself known.

"Laura?" Evan questioned, his eyes shining with worry.

Still holding her left arm stiffly against her, she reached her right hand up to start jerking at the straps to her vest.

Understanding dawned on Evan's face, and he batted her hands away to do it himself. Sheppard helped him ease the vest off and they used it for a pillow as they lowered Laura down to the ground. Evan hesitated for a second, looking up at his CO before untucking Laura's shirt and pushing it up far enough to see the baseball-sized bruise that was developing where the bullet had impacted her TAC vest.

"Does it…look bad?" Laura shuddered.

"It ain't pretty," Sheppard answered with forced levity.

Evan cautiously probed the area, wincing when he felt a broken rib shift beneath his fingers, causing Laura to jerk and cry out.

"Sorry, Laur," he said, hurriedly snatching his hands back.

"Broken rib," he told John.

Sheppard cursed under his breath. "Crap."

"My…sentiments…exactly," Laura wheezed.


	4. Chapter 4

As she shifted uncomfortably, Laura placed a hand on Evan's bicep.

"Help me up."

Sheppard pushed her back down when she began pulling herself up.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Lieutenant." She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. "How about if you just stay right there until we figure out where to go from here?"

She reluctantly agreed. Lorne pulled her soggy shirt back down, squeezed her hand, and then went over to where Sheppard had joined Ronon a few feet away.

"We need to get back to the gate," he said without preamble when he'd reached them. _Laura needs to get back Atlantis_, he wanted to say, but knew it would come across as the distressed reaction of a worried lover rather than a focused Air Force Major.

He was both, and normally he could separate the two. But not today, not in this situation.

"Did you see anything back there?" Sheppard asked Ronon.

Ronon shook his head negatively.

"Me either," Sheppard related. "I didn't see so much as a glint of sunlight off whatever he was shooting at us with."

"Wonder why he couldn't have just said 'Get the hell off my planet' instead of trying to kill us," Evan said.

"Who ever knows in this galaxy," Sheppard responded. "Hopefully we can make our way back to the gate without any further trouble." He turned to look at Laura. "You think Cadman can make it on her own two feet?"

At that, Evan smiled knowingly.

"She's stubborn, Sir. She'd make it on her own two feet if she didn't even have her own two feet."

Sheppard chuckled and the men relocated to where Laura was impatiently, yet exhaustedly, resting.

Privately, Evan was worried sick. He would have preferred if help could come to her, but he knew that wasn't an option.

Still, if she were to move the wrong way, her broken rib could puncture a lung, and even though they'd reset her shoulder, he knew it would continue to cause her pain until treated properly.

All these thoughts he pushed back into the recesses of his mind, determined to put all his focus and effort into getting her, and the rest of them, home safely.

"Alright, Lieutenant," Sheppard was saying. "You ready to blow this joint?"

Her answer was immediate.

"Absolutely, Sir."

But both Evan and John noticed the brief second of uncertainty and fear flash across her face before being replaced by her usual determination.

They used Evan's jacket to fashion a sling for Laura's left arm to prevent movement – otherwise known as pain, Laura thought – and to keep weight off her shoulder. The two men hauled her up and kept hold of her until she was steady.

Once they let go, she looked both of them up and down. She laughed. Then she winced and placed her right hand over her broken rib, still smiling.

"With all due respect, you guys look like crap."

Evan and John looked at her and then at each other, noting the wet, disheveled hair and the soggy, muddy uniforms. Okay, so she wasn't wrong.

Grinning, Evan took a step closer to his CO and peeled a wet leaf off the side of his neck. Sheppard rubbed his neck, and to deflect his slight embarrassment, turned his gaze toward Laura.

"You don't exactly look fresh from the spa yourself, princess," he said sardonically.

Before Laura could conjure up something else witty to come back with, Ronon interrupted.

"I hate to break this up, but we're losing daylight," he reminded them.

And with that, they were all abruptly brought back to reality.

John appointed Ronon to take point, then Evan behind him, Laura behind Evan, with himself in rear.

He expected his 2IC to argue, and he could see in Lorne's eyes that the idea of not being able to keep an eye on Laura didn't sit well with him, but in the end Evan wisely kept his mouth shut.

They started out in the direction of the gate, guns at the ready and keeping a wary eye out for their elusive assailant.

Laura's P-90 had been lost in the river, which she supposed was just as well since she couldn't exactly operate it with one hand.

Instead, she insisted on carrying her sidearm in her right hand, despite Sheppard's insistence that she should just concentrate on getting herself back to the gate in one piece.

She didn't like feeling helpless, and liked being a burden even less.

Because they'd been over an hour away from the gate when they'd been attacked, and the river had carried them even farther away, Sheppard estimated it would take them maybe three hours to get back.

He didn't add that he was accounting for their slower pace because of Laura's injuries. He knew how that would go over with the Lieutenant.

After about 45 minutes, Evan noticed Laura's labored breathing behind him and suggested they rest for a few minutes. Sheppard, who had also noticed that Laura was beginning to flag, crouched in front of her when Evan helped her sit on a nearby fallen tree trunk.

He uncapped his canteen and held it out to her, watching her with worried eyes.

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant," he asked as she sipped.

She opened her mouth to reply with something he could tell already was going to be some platitude about being fine, so he cut her off with a raised hand.

"Don't give me any crap, Cadman," he said sternly.

A fire lit in her eyes before she allowed the pain to filter through and simmer it down a bit.

"Like I got shot, fell off a cliff, and thrown into a really cold river, Sir," she said finally.

He nodded in acquiescence to her sarcastic answer.

"Any trouble breathing?"

She looked at him and then up at Evan, who was hovering anxiously at her side. She knew there was no point in lying, they could hear for themselves.

"A bit," she admitted. "But I think it's more because of the pain. I'm certain I don't have a punctured lung." She thought back to a previous encounter with such an injury. "Trust me, I know what that feels like."

Evan looked like he wanted to press her further, but just then Ronon raised a hand and shushed them. Immediately, Sheppard and Lorne had their guns up as Ronon stared intently into the trees behind them.

"I saw something move," he whispered.

"An animal something? A plant something? A people something?" Sheppard quietly demanded.

They got their answer a second later when a shot rang out and splinters flew from the tree beside Ronon's head.


	5. Chapter 5

And then it started to rain.

Looking back on the last few hours, Sheppard was pretty pissed that he – someone who was paid to be aware of his surroundings – hadn't noticed the steady increase of cloud cover.

But he didn't really have time to think about that because some invisible nutjob had decided to spend the day hunting them down and trying to kill them.

As soon as Evan heard the crack of gunfire, he jerked Laura down behind the fallen tree she was sitting on and positioned himself in front of her. When the first drop of rain landed on his cheek, startling him from his concentrated survey of the forest surrounding them, he looked up at the sky incredulously.

"You've got…to be…kidding me," Laura wheezed behind him.

The shooter fired again, except this time dirt flew up beside Evan's foot. Sheppard fired off his P-90 in the direction the shot had come from as Ronon pulled Laura up and away, giving Evan time to scramble back as well.

All of this jerking around was making the ache in Laura's shoulder return to its former fiery classification. It was also making her broken rib shift around in a scary and agonizing way, but she didn't have time to complain because Sheppard decided that it might be a good idea to, as he put it, get the hell out of there.

Again, Ronon took the lead, although this time Evan tossed protocol to the wind and wrapped an arm around Laura's waist to propel her into a faster run. It also gave him a more tangible way of feeling like he was at least somewhat in control of her safety and well-being.

Sheppard followed, firing occasional bursts of gunfire behind him to slow the pursuit of their predator.

It turned out, Laura thought, that her boyfriend must have some kind of foresight because she continually kept slipping in the mud and it was only his left arm around her waist and his right hand clutching her bicep that prevented her from falling and slowing them down.

She discovered that it was rather difficult to run effectively while having one arm strapped across your chest. She automatically tensed it to keep it from jostling, which, in turn, made it hurt even more. Beside the added pain factor, it just made her feel clumsy.

However, when the pain in her right side began to intensify after they'd been running running for a while, her left hand was already conveniently there to grab at her ribs.

She lifted her right hand and grasped Lorne's arm.

"Evan," she gasped.

He slowed.

"What? What is it?" he asked urgently, scanning her face as though that might tell him without her having to.

They were walking quickly now, and Sheppard came up on Laura's other side, looking at them quizzically.

"Everything okay?" he asked, taking in Laura's pale, sweaty face and the hand she had firmly clamped over her broken rib.

"Yes…Sir." She had to pause. "Just couldn't…breath."

He halted them and gave a shout to Ronon to stop. He looked around and pointed to an area a short distance away where the density of the tree cover had left a dry spot from the rain.

"Maybe you should just sit for a minute," he began.

But Laura's knees were already giving out and, once again, it was a good thing that Evan already had his arms around her so she didn't collapse in a heap in the dirt.

"Whoa, hey," he exclaimed, tightening his grip. Quickly he bent and slid an arm behind her knees, sweeping her up into his arms. He hurried over to their dry haven and carefully sat her on the ground. He brushed her hair back from her face and cupped her cheeks in his hands.

"Sorry," she murmured, eyes closed. " 'm a little dizzy."

"Alright. It's okay," he soothed. "Just breathe slowly. In and out."

She cracked an eye open and gave him a wan smile.

"I'm not having a baby, Ev. I know how to breathe."

He and Sheppard both gave a relieved chuckle at the display of her usual wit. Ronon crouched down next to them and put a hand on Evan's shoulder.

"Want me to carry her?" he offered. "The sooner we get back to the gate, the better."

Without giving Laura a chance to argue, as she surely would have, Sheppard went ahead and answered.

"I think that might be a good idea."

Lorne nodded and moved back so Ronon could pick Laura up.

"You sure you're okay?" he questioned. "Nothing feels different?"

"I'm fine, Major," she tossed exasperatedly over Ronon's shoulder.

With a roll of his eyes, Lorne moved to take up the point position and the sodden, exhausted group headed back out into the rain.


	6. Chapter 6

As they trudged along, the three men kept sharp eyes and ears out for anything unusual. However, the sound of rain falling on the trees around them and having to continually wipe water from their eyes made conditions less than ideal.

"What do you think this guy's problem is?" Evan asked, again taking the time to ponder on what they'd done to warrant such hostility from someone – thing? – they'd never met.

"What makes you think it's a man?" Laura asked, looking back at him with an eyebrow lifted.

Ronon chuckled softly as Evan stuttered to come up with a reply.

"Well, I…I mean, it's just…I'm not saying…oh, come on Laura."

She laughed.

"I'm just," she broke off, sneezing violently. "Just kidding, Evan."

Wrinkling up her nose, she sniffled and then sneezed again, burying her face in her makeshift sling.

"Great," she sighed. "Just what I need."

She felt another sneeze coming on, but when she hunched over to muffle it against her arm she felt her broken rib shift and her sneeze turned into a simultaneous choking kind of exhalation and inhalation of air. She tensed up and immediately cried out in pain, but that was cut off by a sudden burst of coughing brought on by the confusion of air and moisture in her lungs.

Ronon stopped for a second, tightening his grip on her convulsing body, before she managed to suck in enough air to urge him on.

"Keep…going," she choked out, dropping her head back briefly out of exasperation. "I just want…to get…back to Atlantis."

Evan, who had been prepared to pluck her from Ronon's arms when her coughing fit had started so that he could take care of her himself like he wished he could, walked anxiously along behind them until she got her breathing under control.

"Laura, you alright?"

Turning her head, she propped her chin wearily on the shoulder of her right arm, which she had wrapped around Ronon's neck, and looked at him for a minute.

"Not really," she sighed finally, giving him a wan smile of attempted reassurance.

"We're almost there," Sheppard spoke up from behind.

"Yes, Sir," she replied. "I can handle it. A Marine never goes down without a fight."

Evan smiled at her Marine Corps gusto. He could always count on that to pull her up when she was feeling low.

"I think," Ronon said, "that if I were to join your Earth military, I would be a Marine."

His comment made Laura smile, while Sheppard and Lorne both made noises of affront which, in turn, made Laura laugh.

"Oorah," she proclaimed smugly.

"Hooah," Sheppard and Lorne said loudly in protest.

Ronon looked down at Laura questioningly.

"What–."

But his question was cut off by a single crack of gunfire and his own startled roar of pain. Unprepared for the sudden shock of injury to his body, his left knee buckled and he and Laura went tumbling down. With her left arm immobilized, Laura was unable to reach out to break her fall. Her shoulder hit the ground with a jarring thud and for a brief few seconds before Ronon was able to control his body motion, his weight fell against her right side.

He rolled away from her almost immediately, but it was too late. Pain exploded in Laura's chest, stealing her breath and almost her consciousness. Amid the panic and the desperate wish for oblivion, there was also confusion. This pain was not that same she remembered from the last time she'd experienced a punctured lung from a broken rib.

Sheppard was unloading his P-90 into the trees around them, fed up with not being able to see just who or what it was that was so intent on killing them. Ronon, who had been hit in the upper right side of his back, yanked out his blaster with his left hand and began firing.

Meanwhile, Evan had ducked and was crawling over to where Laura lay, dazed and gasping. He put a hand on her cheek, vaguely surprised and distressed to notice that it was warmer than he knew it should be. Her eyes were frantic, and he knew something bad had happened.

When he glanced down to where her hands were firmly pressed against her side, he felt his heart seize up when he saw that her fingers were coated in blood.

"Laura."

Her name escaped his mouth in a breath of fear. Something was very wrong, and as much as he wanted to know what it was so he could fix it, he was afraid of what he might see. Seeing his stricken features, Laura followed his gaze to her side. It was then that she became aware of something hard and slimy beneath her fingertips. She tried to move her hands away, but shock kept them frozen in place.

"Evan," she whispered, "you're going to have to help me."

Slowly, he gripped her wrist and cautiously pulled one hand away. It immediately clamped down on his, so he wrapped his fingers around it and reached for the other with his free hand. When he had pushed her left hand to the side, he let out a string of curses at the sight before him.

The force of Ronon's weight had pushed Laura's broken rib through the skin, and it was now poking out of the open wound it had created in her side. She brought her left hand to hover over it, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, God. Oh, man. Evan," she moaned, her breath hitching as she looking at him pleadingly.

Her hand was shaking in his, and he wondered if it was from shock, the pain, or the fever. He'd had some basic medical training – they all had – but it seemed to have flown out the window in the face of his distress.

By this time, Sheppard had backed up toward the two of them, eyes still scanning their surroundings. He squatted down beside Lorne and looked down to say something, but it died in his throat when he saw Laura's condition.

"Oh," he said. "Crap."


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of his COs voice in his ear snapped Evan out of his stupor, prompting him to tug off his pack and start digging through it for the limited medical supplies they all carried.

Groaning, Ronon pulled himself over to see what had happened.

"Laura, I'm so sorry," he said, horrified at the damage he had unwittingly caused.

She shook her head to put off his apology.

"Yyou…ok...okay?" she stuttered. "Shot?"

Sheppard cursed at the reminder and quickly pulled off his own pack. Evan decided against dislodging Laura's shirt and pulling it up over her rib and began to pack the area with gauze. She fisted her hand in the material of his pants, slipping her fingers into his pocket and clenching tightly. Ronon sat beside her as Sheppard cut his shirt away and began examining his wound. To distract herself, she rolled her head to the side and looked around them.

"Where'd…hhhe…go?"

"Oh, so now it's a man?" Evan joked lightly, making his own attempt to take her mind off the pain.

She smiled weakly, but then gasped and flinched when he pushed a little too hard on the gauze.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he blurted out remorsefully before realizing what he was saying and who he was saying it in front of.

Sheppard didn't acknowledge his slip, however, as he patched Ronon up. There wasn't really anything he could do beside bandage the wound. They would have to wait until they got back to Atlantis and let Dr. Keller remove the bullet. He just hoped it didn't start moving around and doing even more damage.

When he was done, he patted Ronon lightly on the shoulder.

"All done, sweetheart," he said, sending a smirk in Lorne's direction.

Standing, he looked around and addressed Laura's previous question.

"I'm starting to think this guy is playing with us. He could have picked all of us off by now."

Evan nodded in agreement, not taking his eyes off his work.

"This is a pretty sick game, then."

"We should go before he decides to make another move," Ronon suggested.

Upon his suggestion, the three men looked down at Laura. There was no time to make a litter for her, as they would have preferred, and there was no way Ronon could continue to carry her.

"Just leave me," Laura said.

"Absolutely not," Evan spat out before she was even finished. "No way, Laura. I am not leaving you here."

"Lorne's right, Cadman," Sheppard added. "If we leave you here, even if someone were to stay with you, you'd both be sitting ducks."

"We're almost to the gate," she argued. "You can dial Atlantis and bring Jen back with a stretcher."

She was shivering now, absolutely freezing down to her very core. Shock was setting in, she knew. She didn't have much time. Seeing this, Sheppard pulled off his own jacket and draped it over her.

"We don't leave a man behind," he said firmly.

"You're not–"

Laura was interrupted by the crackle of John's radio.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Atlantis," Richard Woolsey's voice declared. "Do you copy?"

Evan visibly wilted in relief. He picked up Laura's hand and kissed, no longer caring about protocol. He was just happy they were going home. Sheppard grinned.

"Never thought I'd say this but," he clicked his radio on, "it's good to hear your voice, Sir."

Evan and Ronon chuckled.

"We're in a bit of trouble here," John continued. "We could use some backup and a med team."

Jennifer Keller's voice rang out, then.

"Who's injured?"

Everyone looked to Ronon, smirking because they knew she was really asking after him. He and the good doctor were trying to keep their relationship under wraps, but somehow everyone knew anyway. That's just the way things were in Atlantis.

"Ronon's been shot in the back, but he's still awake and sitting up. Lieutenant Cadman had a dislocated shoulder that we put back into place and a broken rib that has since become a compound fracture."

"We'll send a jumper immediately," Woolsey assured them.

"You'd better make sure it's cloaked," John told him. "Some wack job we can't see's been following us around all day taking pot shots at us."

"Understood."

Sheppard was surprised at the lack of questions by their leader, but was sure that a full inquisition would come upon their return. He crouched down next to Laura's prone form and lightly touched her shoulder.

"Almost there, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir," she said softly.

She continued to hold on to Evan's hand until the jumper arrived 15 minutes later. By then, she was struggling to remain awake, despite Evan's pleas for her to hold on just a little while longer. She drowsily insisted that the med team see to Ronon first.

"He's got…a bullet floating…around in there…somewhere," she said testily when both Ronon and Lorne started to argue.

As much as she was worried for her friend, Jennifer was only too glad to check on Ronon so she could see the severity of his condition. As Sheppard had originally noted, there wasn't much she could do until she could get him back to all of the technology she had available in the infirmary on Atlantis.

Ronon was deposited in the jumper with strict instructions to stay there under threat of death. A sight to behold, he actually nodded in agreement when faced with Jennifer's fiercest glare.

Moving back to Laura, Jennifer cautiously removed the gauze Evan had packed around her displaced rib.

"Well, geez, Laura," she exclaimed once the injury was in full view. "What did you do to yourself?"

"Got shot…fell…off a cliff…tossed into…into a river…chased through the woods…and then…then your boyfriend…fell on me."

Laura was completely spent after her teasing reply. Her grip on Evan's hand loosened slightly, but still she didn't let go. The med team came over to move her onto a stretcher, a process which, if possible, made her face go even whiter than it had been before. She cried out, before biting her lip to cut herself off.

"Hope you've got…some really…really good drugs, Jen," she whimpered.

Silently, Evan hoped that Jennifer had some really good drugs too. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand watching Laura suffer.

"I can give you something mild, but that's all until I can take some scans to make sure you don't have any lung damage," Jennifer told her apologetically.

The stretcher was lifted by two of Jen's team and Evan and Jennifer took up positions on either side. Just as Evan was wondering what had become of their mysterious shooter, weapons fire emanated from behind them. The four of them immediately crouched down low to the ground, Evan leaning his upper body over Laura's. Sheppard and the team of Marines that had accompanied the med team spread out and returned fire.

The attacking gunfire ceased and Laura was quickly rushed into the jumper.

"Damn it!" Sheppard exclaimed as he stalked up the ramp. "I really want to get that guy!"

Then an idea occurred to him. Making his way to the front of the jumper, he brought up the life signs display on the screen. He counted. He counted again, his mouth falling open. There were 12 life signs. Four were his team, four were Dr. Keller and her team, and four were the Marine unit. There were no other life signs in the vicinity.

"What the hell?"

"What?" Ronon demanded from the back.

"Nothing. There's nothing – no one – else out there."

"Maybe he's got some sort of personal shield or cloaking device," Evan offered.

"Sorry, guys, but we don't have time to stick around and find out," Jennifer said. "I need to get these two into surgery."

Frustrated, irritated, aggravated, annoyed, and every other word that was synonymous with being severely pissed off, Sheppard gave a curt nod and then insisted on piloting the jumper back to Atlantis himself.

Ten minutes later they were descending into the jumper bay, and Evan took his first full breath in hours. He put a hand on Laura's cheek, prompting her drowsy eyes to blink open. He smiled.

"We're home."


	8. Epilogue

_Two weeks later_

Laura and Ronon sat shoulder to shoulder, sulking against the wall in the gym as they watched John and Evan spar. Both were disgruntled at the fact that Jennifer continued to refuse to clear them for active duty. Although, to be fair, she promised it would only be a week more.

When Jen had taken Ronon into surgery, she had discovered the bullet had knicked a lung and fractured two ribs. She had repaired both, and he was an exceptionally fast healer, but she was being cautious about his recovery. They all knew that she had an especially vested interest in his well-being, and watched in awe as Ronon continually tamped down on his frustration and heeded her orders.

Laura's recovery was going a bit slower. Her dislocated shoulder had torn a few tendons that had to be repaired, several of the ribs around the broken one had been severely bruised, and then, of course, her broken rib had been set back into place. On top of all of that, she had developed a case, albeit a weak one, of pneumonia. For a week she had barely been conscious enough to register Evan sitting by her bed until Sheppard had forced him to get some rest. Of course, as soon as he'd gone, John had taken up residence in his vacated chair and stayed there until Evan returned.

After that, Laura had gone progressively better. John had joked that her competitive nature wouldn't allow Ronon to be cleared before, or at least not too much before, herself, despite the fact that her injuries had been more severe.

She had been out of the infirmary for two days, and only then because she had resorted to alternately threatening to shoot her best friend and going down knees to beg Jen to let her sleep in her own bed. Laura liked to think it had been the threats that had won her argument, but deep down she knew Jennifer had a soft spot for her and couldn't stand to see her beg.

Now she sat by Ronon, the two of them continually grumbling in complaint about being well enough to get in a little physical exercise. Laura was really just arguing for form's sake, knowing she wouldn't last more than 30 seconds if she tried to take one of the men on. As it was, she was lucky Evan had allowed her to slowly amble her way to the gym, with him hovering close behind, of course.

When Jen had told her she'd be allowed back on duty in one more week, she had qualified that by adding that it would be limited duty until Jen said so. Laura was so happy to be allowed to do anything that she hadn't argued.

John and Evan had taken a team of scientists and a team of Marines back to the planet in a couple of jumpers a few days after their initial visit. Scans of the planet's surface had revealed no detectable life signs. Evan had told Laura that Sheppard was pushing for a second go around, but Woolsey wasn't having it. They were all frustrated at never having seen their attacker, but John was taking it especially hard because he had been essentially useless while members of his team were being attacked and he was used to being the self-sacrificial one.

Evan landed hard on his backside in front of Laura and Ronon and she shot a grin at his grimacing face.

"You should have taken me on, soldier," she told him.

John came over and squatted beside them, Laura passing him his towel and water bottle.

"Thanks," he said as he mopped his face off.

Evan pried himself up off the floor, but remained seated as he too toweled off before draining his bottle of water. As the others chatted, he tried covertly to scan Laura for any signs of pain or fatigue. She hadn't been out of bed much in the last two weeks, and he didn't want her to overexert herself.

"Well, I think that's enough for today, Major," Sheppard said, standing.

"Yes, Sir," Evan replied, trying not to sound like he was agreeing to eagerly.

"I'm hungry," Ronon put it.

Sheppard laughed.

"You're always hungry, big guy. Come on, let's go see if we can tear your pretty doctor away from work and get some dinner." He looked back at Evan and Laura. "You guys coming?"

Evan looked to Laura to see if she was up for it. She nodded.

"Sure."

Sheppard and Ronon left the room, squabbling about what Ronon found lacking in Sheppard's sparring technique.

"You sure you're up for this?" Evan asked, looking at Laura with a concerned expression.

"Yes. I'm fine, Ev. It'll be nice to sit out and eat with friends."

He stood and moved to help her stand. Her left arm was supposed to be in a sling, but she refused to wear it outside her quarters because she didn't want to appear weak in front of her peers. She lifted her hands, intending for him to pull her up, but he bypassed them and hooked his hands under her armpits instead. There was no way he was going to risk further injury to her shoulder or ribs by pulling on her.

Rolling her eyes, Laura gripped his biceps and allowed him to support her while she used her legs to push herself up. Despite their care, she still felt the stitches on her side pull, causing a hiss to escape between her teeth as she faltered and let go of his arm to grab her side.

"What's wrong? Did you pop a stitch?" he asked urgently, yanking up her shirt to see for himself.

"Geez, Evan," she said, fighting with his hands to pull her shirt back down. "It's okay. They just pulled a little. Stop trying to undress me in public."

Relieved, he allowed her to adjust her shirt, looking around at the empty room before placing his hands on her waist.

"We're not in public," he retorted softly, moving closer. "There's no one here."

"Someone could come in any minute," she said, a little breathless at his proximity. He hadn't really done more than kiss her on the forehead or give her a peck on the cheek in the last two weeks, being more intent on taking care of her than being romantic.

She wasn't sure if she'd be able to lift her arms up around his neck, so she settled for looping them around his waist. She leaned against him, bringing her lips just centimeters from his.

"We're going to be late for dinner. They're going to wonder where we are."

Evan chuckled before closing the distance between them.

"Let them wonder."

THE END


End file.
